Opinion

From Library Staff

Named one of the best books of 2016, Hill’s novel follows the adventures of a would-be writer and his reneging publisher, his reunion with his runaway, hippie mother and much, much more. As the lively narrative speeds along, Hill turns a satirical eye to the current political, cultural, and acade... Read More »

From the critics

Community Activity

Comment

Unfortunately I cannot say this is my favorite book nor one I'd recommend to anyone seeking a well told, concise story with unusual characters, intrigue, humor etc. I found it far too long due to the large amount of research done into the sixties, which while relevant in ways, was over used in my opinion. I also would have preferred the plot twist to surface much earlier than page 600+. I enjoy his writing to some degree, though I'm not a fan of this book even though I did manage to struggle through the whole thing. As the expression goes, 'each to their own'.

Another year, another over-hyped, over-praised, over-long novel by a white dude (Nothing against white dudes, they've just kinda dominated the literary scene since, well, forever.). Previous entries include "The Art of Fielding," (So boring.) "City on Fire" (So long.), and everything by Jonathan Franzen (So self-important.). Iowan native Nathan Hill's book is really a pretty simple mother and son story, but extended to an unreasonable length so that it seems more substantial than it is. The 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention is the key historical event. Oh, a nix is like some Scandinavian goblin or spirit of mediocre writing.

"Because one thing she's learned through all this is that if a new beginning is really new, it will feel like a crisis. Any real change should make you feel, at first, afraid. If you're not afraid of it, then it's not real change."

Okay, so I can't remember where I came across The Nix (most likely on Goodreads); but I am so glad that I did. It's quite a lengthy book but definitely a worthy read! Nathan Hill pulls this puzzling story together so well and makes the subject matter so deliciously interesting. The Nix isn't just some fly by night debut novel; but rather one of substance and intricate details that pulls you in if you give it the reading time it deserves.

Kudos to Nathan Hill on penning a great first novel!

HMWLibrary2017
Jul 14, 2017

It's so important to me to love a narrator and I loved most of the various narrators in "The Nix." The only one that was less interesting and believable was the mother. That said, I loved the humor and inventiveness and even liked the almost-too-neat ending.

Only made to page 36 and returned to library. I just finished two very good suspense books and couldn't get past the "gaming" of the main character.
There are too many good books available, I didn't want to waste time (600 plus pages) on a book I couldn't get into.

Omigosh, I couldn't put this book down. Just some really funny lines: "her shorts were the size of a coffee filter." I enjoyed it so much and actually messaged the author on Facebook. He wrote me back!

This novel was a good read. I loved the way the ending tied up all the loose ends. The author was incredibly creative - not like anything I've ever read before. I'd recommend this book, though it is quite long. I'm guessing the new and interesting flavor was what won it all the awards, because I didn't finish it thinking I'd read something profound or awe-inspiring.

a different view: i enjoyed the first 25% of the book - funny. Then there were literally hundreds of pages of depression, anger, self-loathing, crying, regret, anxiety, abuse, fear, etc. - redundantly gone over again and again - not funny - tortuous. I had my first inkling to stop reading at the end of Part 2. I had the urge to stop many, many times afterword, but hoped it would improve & the ending would be worth it. If I could go back in time, I would have stopped at the end of part 2.

Quotes

In the months before the protest, it was Sebastian who had printed those outrageous stories in the Free Voice about spiking the city's water supply with LSD, about abducting delegates' wives about bombs going off at the amphitheater. That no such plans were ever actually considered was irrelevant. He had learned something important: What was printed became the truth.

This is what the nation had to look forward to for the next year. Twelve full months of stump speeches and gaffes and ads and attacks and stupidity, agonizing stupidity, bordering on immoral stupidity. It was as if ever four years all news everywhere just lost perspective. And then billions of dollars would be spent to achieve what was already inevitable—the whole election would come down to a handful of swing voters in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The electoral math pretty much ordained this.
Democracy! Huzzah!

If you keep pestering the politician, you look like a pest, and America does not tune in to watch pests. It's a chilling thought, that politicians have learned to manipulate the television medium better than the television professionals themselves. When old Cronkite first realized this was happening he imagined the kinds of people who would become president in the future. And he shuddered with fear.

In the story of the blind men and the elephant, what's usually ignored is the fact that each man's description was correct. What Faye won't understand and may never understand is that there is not one true self hidden by many false ones. Rather, there is one true self hidden by many other true ones. Yes. She is the eek and shy and industrious student. Yes, she is the panicky and frightened child Yes, she is the bold and impulsive seductress. Yes, she is the wife, the mother. And many other things as well. Her belief that only one of these is true obscures the larger truth, which was ultimately the problem with the blind men and the elephant. It wasn't that they were blind—it's that they stopped too quickly, and so never knew there was a larger truth to grasp.